Setting the Rates

Ka pēhea te whakatatū i ngā rēti

Have you ever wondered how we decide how much your rates will be?  Get the facts here.

Resolution to set 2023-24 rates

What are rates?

Rates are a levy paid annually by property owners to their local Council. We set the rates every year to help fund community facilities, services and projects within the annual plan.

Our district is facing rapid growth and community expectations of Council activities are high. This, along with the capital value of your property, is reflected in the annual rates.

Council activities are funded in a number of ways. We will always attempt to fund a service, project or activity using fees and charges, such as land sales or development contributions, or by grants and subsidies. Once these funding avenues have been exhausted and the activity still requires funding, the remainder is generally funded by a rate.

How are the rates set?

We rate properties according to the capital value. Quotable Value NZ Ltd (QV) provides us with the valuations.

During the year, we provide QV with details of building consents and new subdivisions that have been approved. QV then provides updated values based on this information. In turn, the updated values are used to help determine the following year’s rates.  A district-wide revaluation takes place every three years. The last rating valuation took place in 2021.

Annual rates are determined through our Annual Plan / 10 Year Plan process. Once the total rate revenue is determined, it is then apportioned out to individual properties throughout the district, based on the use of the property and its capital value.

There are two types of rates:

  • General Rates - this includes the Uniform Annual General Charge.

  • Targeted Rates - this includes tourism promotion rate, water supply rate, sewerage rate, stormwater rate, waste management rate, roading rate, governance, regulatory, recreation and events and capital value based rate.

Rates are also based on what a property is used for, for example: residential or commercial.

A full rundown of rates and charges based on property type can be read below.

Rates and charges 2023-24.